Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog
At McCulloch & Miller, many of the clients we sit down with are meeting with an estate planning attorney for the first time. If you are looking to meet with an estate planning or probate attorney to discuss your long-term needs and don’t quite know what to expect, this guide will help you anticipate your first meeting as well as the process ahead.
Importantly, the estate planning attorney will likely start by setting up an initial meeting with you to understand your goals and provide you with options for how to achieve them. Before you have this initial meeting, it can be helpful to think about what, if any, preparation you could do beforehand.
Typically, when you call an estate planning attorney and set up a meeting, the attorney will send you a basic questionnaire for you to fill out before that meeting. The more information you can fill out on this questionnaire, the better, since it will save you time in the meeting itself if your attorney is already familiar with your family and financial information.
After answering these questions ahead of the meeting, it is helpful to gather financial documents to bring to the meeting. For example, recent financial statements, copies of deeds, and any prior estate planning documents might be helpful to give your attorney a snapshot of how your assets are laid out.
It is also best to be prepared to talk about your family in some degree of detail during the initial meeting. If any family members are sick or have other limitations, the attorney will want to know that information. If certain family members have a history of not getting along, that might also be relevant. While it can, at times, be difficult to have these kinds of conversations in an initial meeting, it is important to remember that an experienced estate-planning attorney has your best interests in mind and is only trying to help you achieve your desired outcomes.
Above all, in your first meeting, you should be looking to see if your estate planning attorney is someone you can trust. The estate planning process can be delicate and complicated, and it has significant implications for both you and your loved ones. You will need a lawyer that has your best interests at heart and one that you can trust with your future plans.
Do You Have an Estate Planning Attorney in Texas?
At McCulloch & Miller, PLLC, we take great pride in understanding the details of each of our client’s individualized circumstances because we understand how much is at stake when you are making long term plans. We are committed to providing thorough, compassionate, experience-based services that help you think through what options might be right for you. For a confidential consultation with a member of our team, call us today at 713-903-7879. You can also fill out our online form to get in touch with us. We handle all aspects of the estate planning and probate processes.